Chipotle workers quit and walked off the job at the burrito chain's location near Pennsylvania State University on Wednesday, locking the door behind them and leaving a note that claimed "employees are forced to work in borderline sweatshop conditions."
College news site
Onward State published a report about the closure not long after employees left, and posted pictures of the note on Twitter. That caught the attention of Pennsylvania newspapers and Chipotle's corporate offices in Denver.
Urgent: Do You Approve Or Disapprove of President Obama's Job Performance? Vote Now in Urgent Poll
Former manager Brian Healy explained that several employees had quit in the two days prior to the walk-out. Six to eight employees were apparently doing the work of 13 or 14, and were forced to work 10- to 12-hour shifts without meal breaks.
When Healy arrived Wednesday morning, another employee quit and left right then and there. He and another manager decided to call it a day, posted the note, and locked the door on their way out.
"We just felt neglected," he said. "Working conditions are heinous. I’m not trying to take down the Chipotle corporation, I just want to see people treated better. We’re not trying to start a strike or anything like that."
PennLive.com reported that Chipotle's spokeswoman Danielle Winslow responded quickly to the impromptu shuttering.
"Our Penn State restaurant was closed when a few employees quit, locking out a majority of others who are enthusiastic to return to work. We expect the restaurant to re-open shortly," she said in an email. Sure enough, the restaurant re-opened just a few hours later.
Chipotle spokesperson Chris Arnold
told StateCollege.com that the allegations contained in the note, "are completely inconsistent with the cultures we look to build in our restaurants. Any time we hear of such issues in our restaurants, we review them thoroughly and take whatever corrective actions are warranted."
Urgent: Assess Your Heart Attack Risk in Minutes. Click Here.
© 2018 Newsmax. All rights reserved.